Offset hinge assembly for a swingable door



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United States Patent 3,289,244 OFFSET HINGE ASSEMBLY FOR A SWINGABLEDOOR Russell N. Carey, deceased, late of Niles, Mich., by Elizabeth M.Carey, executrix, Niles, Mich., assigner to Eliason RefrigeratorCompany, Hartford, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Filed Dec. 7, 1964,Ser. No. 416,651 14 Claims. (Cl. 16--154) This application is acontinuation-impart of the application Serial No. 256,848, filedFebruary 7, 1963, and entitled Hinge Assembly for a Swingable Door, andnow Patent No. 3,160,913 issued December l5, 1964.

This invention relates in general to a hinge construction for supportinga swingable door and, more partie* ularly, to a type of hingeconstruction which mildly resists movement of the door away from aselected at rest position and utilizes gravity to return said doorgently to said at rest position.

Swinging doors of the self-closing type, which include those doorsreferred to as gravitating doors, are well known in the art and havebeen used for many years. However, doors of this general character havenot, insofar as I am aware, been capable of fully satisfactory operationin certain types of installations, particularly where problems of heattransfer are encountered, for the reason set forth in said applicationSerial No. 256,848.

Existing, self-closing doors are usually hung so that their at restposition is located within the opening delined by the door frame. Thatis, when the door is not being operated, at least most of the door isdisposed between the two planes defined by the opposite surfaces of thewall containing the door opening. Thus, even when the door is fullyopened, at least part of the door continues to block at least part ofthe opening defined by the door frame. Accordingly, the opening must bemade substantially larger than the largest object which it mustaccommodate in order to allow for the obstruction by the door. Sincethis is not always possible or feasible, it is sometimes necessary toremove the doors completely from their hinges to receive such largeobjects through the opening.

In addition to the foregoing problem, it has been observed that mostswingable doors tend to move more than 90 away from their closedposition during an opening operation. This necessarily means that thehinged edge of the door may actually move into the path of or snag theobject being moved through the door opening and thereby result inserious damage to the door which, in many instances, is made ofrelatively lightweight ma terials. Furthermore, where swingable doorsare used to close opening between rooms having relatively largetemperature differentials, the excessive opening simply increases theheat transfer problems. Thus, it will be seen that there has been aserious need for an easily swingable door, such as the door disclosed inapplication Serial No. 256,848, which is also capable of being movedcompletely out of the opening defined by the door frame when the needarises merely by effecting a completely normal, pivotal movement of thedoor.

Accordingly, the objects of this invention include the objects set forthin said application Serial No. 256,848 as well as the following:

(l) To provide an improved hinge construction for a swinging door of theself-closing type, which can be hung r ICC upon a wall adjacent anopening therein so that the door, when in its at rest position,effectively closes the open ing and, when swung open in one direction,is moved completely out of a position of interference with an objectbeing moved through the opening, which construction is relativelyinexpensive to manufacture, easy to install on door panels having a widevariety of sizes and shapes, easy to mount upon a wall structure, andwhich is pleasing in appearance.

(2) To provide a hinge construction, as aforesaid, which permits aswinging movement of the door through the opening in both directionswith the same type of gravity-actuated, pendulous and slow-movingoperation characterized by the hinge structure disclosed in applicationSerial No. 256,848, and which permits the use of hinge elementsgenerally similar to the hinge elements disclosed in said applicationSerial No. 256,848.

Other objects and purposes of this invention will become apparent topersons familiar with this type of equipment upon reading the followingdescriptive material and examining the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of a pair of swinging doors, eachsupported by a hinge construction of the invention upon a wall dening anopening in which the doors are located.

FIGURE 2 is a broken sectional view taken along the line II--II inFIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged, broken fragment of FIG- URE 1.

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV in FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 5 is a broken sectional view substantially as taken along theline V--V in FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged fragment of FIGURE 3 with the door in apartially open position.

FIGURE 7 is an exploded fragment of the upper hinge unit of theinvention.

FIGURE 8 is a sectional view taken along the line VIII-VIII in FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 9 is a fragmentary, broken, front elevational view of a modifiedhinge construction embodying the invention.

FIGURE 10 is an enlarged, exploded, perspective view of the upper hingeunit of the modified hinge construe tion appearing in FIGURE 9.

FIGURE 11 is a broken, front elevational View of another hingeconstruction embodying the invention.

FIGURE 12 is an exploded, enlarged and perspective view of the hingeconstruction and door appearing in FIGURE 11.

FIGURE 13 is a sectional view taken along the line XIII-XIII in FIGURE11.

FIGURE 14 is a sectional view taken along the line XIV- XIV in FIGURE11.

FIGURE l5 is a sectional view similar to FIGURE 13 and showing the hingeand door in the open positions.

FIGURE 16 is a sectional view taken along the line XVI-XVI in FIGURE 14.

FIGURE 17 is a sectional view taken along the line XVII-XVII in FIGURE1l.

FIGURE 18 is a broken fragment of a modified upper hinge used at thelower end of a door.

For convenience in description, the terms upperj lower and words ofsimilar import will have reference to the hinge construction of theinvention and a door 3 associated therewith as appearing in FIGURES l, 9and l1. The terms inner, outer and words of similar import will havereference to the geometric center of said hinge construction, unitsthereof and parts associated therewith.

General construction The objects and purposes of the invention,including those set forth above and in application Serial No. 256,848,have been met by providing an improved hinge construction for supportinga swingable door for substantially horizontal movement in eitherdirection away from an at rest position into which said door is gentlyurged entirely by gravity. The hinge construction is comprised of anupper hinge unit, which controls the gravitating movement of the door,and a lower hinge unit which assists in guiding such movement. The hingeaxis is preferably disposed at an angle to and adjacent to one verticaledge of the door, such angle diverging upwardly and being disposedeither within the door opening or to one side thereof. The hingleconstruction of the invention can be built into the wall surrounding theopening with which it is associated, or it may be installed within theopening after the wall structure is completed.

Also, said door can be hung by an alternate form of hinge constructionwhereby the at rest position of the door is outside of the zone dened bythe frame around the door opening. In such case, the hinge constructionis arranged so that the door can be moved away from the door opening toprevent any obstruction thereof.

Detailed description The hinge construction (FIGURES l and 2), which hasbeen selected to illustrate one embodiment of the invention, iscomprised of an upper hinge 10 and a lower hinge 11 which pivotallyconnect the upper and lower parts, respectively, of the door 12 to theadjacent portions of the wall 13 defining the opening 14 in said wall.For illustrative purposes, a second door 16 is mounted by means of theupper hinge 17 and lower hinge 18 upon the wall 13 within the opening 14so that the doors 12 and 16 substantially completely close the opening14 when said doors are in their at rest positions, as appearing inFIGURE l. The door 16, upper hinge 17 and lower hinge 18 are preferably,but not necessarily, identical with the door 12, upper hinge 10 andlower hinge 11, respectively. Accordingly, a detailed description of thedoor 12 and its hinges 10 and 11 will be given hereinafter and suchdescription will be understood to apply, at least in substance, to thedoor 16 and its hinges 17 and 18.

The door 12 (FIGURE 1) may be of a substantially conventional typewhich, in this particular embodiment, may be fabricated from asubstantially rigid and durable material such as wood, plastic and/ ormetal. Where the door is fabricated from a lightweight, easily marredmaterial, such as wood or aluminum, it is at least desirable to providemore durable surface panels 19 and 20 to to absorb the rough treatmentgiven to such doors, particularly when they are opened by means otherthan hands. That is, swinging doors of the type for which the hinges 10and 11 are specifically designed, are frequently opened by vehicles,containers or the like which are moved through the opening in which thedoor is supported. The lower panel 20, which would normally receive therougher treatment, may advantageously be fabricated from somewhatheavier material than the material required in the upper panel 19. Theadded weight in said lower panel 20 also facilitates the closingmovement of the door as discussed hereinafter.

The opening 14 in the Wall 13 is defined by a threshold 22 on the floor23, a head jamb 24 and a pair of side jambs 26 and 27 which extendbetween said threshold 22 and said head jamb 24. In this particularembodiment, the head jamb 24 and side jambs 26 and 27 are disclosed aschannel-shaped members which slideably embrace adjacent portions of theWall 13. The head jamb 24 (FIGURE 4) is held in place by means such asbolts 23, and said side jambs 26 and 27 are held in place by means suchas the bolts or screws 29 and 36, respectively (FIG- URE 2). The headjamb Z4 and side jambs 26 and 27 (FIGURES 3 and 5) may be rigidlyconnected to each other near their adjacent ends by means such as thebolts 33.

The upper hinge 10 includes a pivot member 34 (FIG- URES 3, 6 and 7),which is connected to the upper end of the door 12, and a support member36 which is secured to and within the head jamb 24. More specifically,pivot member 34 (FIGURE 3) includes a mounting plate 37, which isrigidly secured to the door 12 by screws 38. The mounting plate 37(FIGURES 4 and 7) has an integral, sidewardly extending flange 39 at itsupper end to which an upwardly extending pivot pin 42 is rigidlysecured, as by welding. The pivot axis 50 (FIGURE l) of the pivot pin 42is preferably parallel with the lengthwise extent of the mounting plate37.

A roller shaft 43 (FIGURE 5) extends through and is snugly held within adiametrical opening 44 through the pivot pin 42, preferably so that saidshaft 43 is perpendicular to the plane defined by the mounting plate 37.A pair of rollers 46 and 47 are rotatably supported upon the shaft 43 onopposite sides of the pivot pin 42 and are held upon said shaft 43 bymeans such as the spring clips 48 and 49. The rollers 46 and 47 arepreferably identical in size and shape and are also preferablyfabricated from a durable, self-lubricating material, such as nylon,Teflon or the like. However, said rollers 46 and 47 could also be madeof hardened steel, or they could be roller or ball bearings.

The pivot member 34 (FIGURE 3) is preferably mounted upon the door 12 sothat the axis-50 of the pivot pin 42 is inclined with respect to theadjacent side jamb 27 at an angle of approximately 3, when the door 12is in its at rest position within the opening 14, which position issubstantially parallel with the Wall 13. In said at rest position, theroller shaft 43 is substantially perpendicular to said wall 13.

The support member 36 includes an elongated support bracket 52 which ismounted within the head jamb 24 (FIGURE 4) upon the web 51 of thechannel member 53 by the bolts 54. Said channel member 53 may be weldedto the head jamb 24. Said support bracket 52 has at its opposite ends apair of integral, downwardly extending hangers 56 and 577 with integralflanges 58 and S9, respectively, which extend toward each othersubstantially within the same plane from the lower ends of said hangers.The plane deued by said franges 58 and 59 is preferably disposed at anangle of approximately 3 to the horizontal, or to the web 62 of the headjamb 24 (FIGURES 3 and 6) so that said plane is substantiallyperpendicular to the axis 50 of the pivot pin 42.

An elongated substantially rectang-ular support plate 63 (FIGURES 5 and7) is mounted upon and between the flanges 58 and 59 as by the bolts 64and 65 which extend through openings 67 and 68 in the plate 63 andopenings 69 and 70 in the flanges 58 and 59 respectively. The openings69 and 7@ in the anges 58 and 59 are preferably elongated laterally ofthe bracket 52 to permit laterad adjustment of the support plate 63 withrespect to the support bracket 52 when the door 12 is initially hung orlater aligned within the'opening 14.

The support plate 63 has a tranverse upwardly opening groove 73 which issubstantially V-shaped in cross section and into which the rollers 46and 47 are simultaneously receivable. Said support plate 63 also `has acentral opening 74 which preferably extends through the center of thegroove 73. Said opening 74 is slightly larger than the diameter of thepivot pin 42 and said opening is located so that the pivot pin 42 doesnot engage the edge of the opening 74, particularly in a directioncrosswise of said groove 73, when the rollers 46 and 47 are snuglydisposed within the groove 73. Accordingly, the rollers 46 and 47 willalways return to their fully seated posh tions within the groove 73 whenthe door is released to swing freely. The groove 73 is preferablynarrow, in this particular embodiment, so that the door must be at anangle of preferably less than 45 to the at rest position before therol-1ers start to move downwardly into the groove 73. Thus, the door 12can he swung substantially beyond its at rest position, as indicated bybroken lines at 12a in FIGURE 5, without being held open by said grooveand rollers. On the other hand, by widening the groove 73, as shown inFIGURE 5, it is possible to use said groove not only to hold the door 12in its "at rest or closed position, but also to hold it in an openposition substantially beyond a 90 angle from its closed position.

The lower hinge 11 (FIGURES 3 and 8) includes a pivot member 78, whichis mounted upon the lower end of the side jamb 27 adjacent the threshold22 of the opening 14, and a guide member 79, which is rigidly secured tothe lower end of the door 12. The pivot member 78 includes a supportplate 82 which is rigidly secured near one end to the side jamb 27 andwhich has near its other end an -upstanding pivot pin 83, which pin ispreferably coaxial with the pivot pin 42, when the door 12 is in itsFIGURE 1 position. The guide member 79 has a mounting plate 84, which isrigidly secured to the lower end of the door 12 by screws 86, and it hasan integral sidewardly extending flange 87 at its lower end whichextends under the door 12. The flange 87 has a pivot opening 88 throughwhich the pivot pin 83 is slideably and rotatably receivable. The Ilowerend of the door 12 may be recessed at 91 to loosely receive the upperend of the pivot pin 83.

The lower hinge 11 (FIGURE 8) is intentionally constructed so that itdoes not support any of the weight of the door 12, since that wouldinterfere with the gravitating action effected by the upper hinge 10.Although the common axis 50 (FIGURE l) of the pivot pins 42 and 83(FIGURE 3) is preferably disposed at an angle of approximately 3 withrespect to the adjacent edge 93 of the door 12, hence the adjacentvertical surface of the side jamb 27, other angles of inclination can beused if desired or required. For example, the inclination will effectthe movement of the door from its open to its closed position and theamount of force required to move the door from its closed to its openposition.

The door 12, where used to close an entry to a cold storage room, may beprovided with gaskets or sealing elements 95, 95a and 96, 96a along itsvertical edges 97 and 93 and its horizontal edges 98 and 98a,respectively. The seals 95, 95a, 96 and 96a are preferably fabricatedfrom resiliently flexible material, such as re-enforced rubber orplastic material, which is capable of repeated bending and rubbing witha minimum of set and/ or wear. The bottom seal 96 is arranged so that itis closely adjacent the oor 23 when the door 12 is in its at restposition of FIG- URE 1. The vertical seal 95 is arranged so that itextends slightly beyond the midway line between the adjacent edges 97and 103 of said doors 12 and 16, respectively, when they are both intheir at rest positions of FIGURES 1 and 2. Thus, the seal 95 willoverlap and gently engage the corresponding seal 102 on the verticaledge 103 of the main panel of the door 16 when it is mounted by itshinges 17 and 18 within the opening 14, as described above with respectto the door 12 and its hinges and 11.

The vertical seal 95a is secured to and extends from the edge 93 of thedoor 12 so that said seal slightly engages the adjacent surface of theside jamb 27 when said door is in its at rest position. The top seal 96a(FIGURE 1), which is secured to the upper edge of the door 12, may bespaced downwardly slightly from the head jamb 24 when said door 12 is inits at rest position in FIGURE 1. Thus, when the door is raisedslightly, as it is swung away from said at rest position, due to theaction between the rollers 46, 47 and the support plate 63, said topseal 96a will not be jammed against the head jamb 24.

Operation As indicated above, the doors 12 and 16 (FIGURES 1 and 2) aredisposed in their at rest positions when their meeting edge seals and182, respectively, are in slightly overlapped engagement substantiallythroughout their lengths. As shown with respect to the door 12, the atrest position is achieved and maintained by the snug reception of therollers 46 and 47 within the groove 73 in the support plate 63 (FIGURE7). When the door 12 is moved around the pivot axis 50 (FIGURE 1) in onedirection or the other (FIGURE 6) away from the at rest position, therollers 46 and 47 are caused to climb up the side walls of the groove73, thereby raising the door 12 slightly due to a camming action. Thewalls of the groove 73 are preferably relatively steep so that therollers promptly move up on to the upper surface of the support plate 63into their raised positions, which are indicated in broken lines at 46aand 47a in FIGURE 6. This upward movement serves the purpose of movingthe bottom seal 96 away from the door 23 with a minimum of draggingaction therebetween. The groove 73 is preferably designed so that therollers 46 and 47 do not move back into the groove 73 until the door 12is at an angle of less than 45 to its at rest or its closed position.Thus, the door 12 can be moved easily into the open position, indicatedby broken lines at 12a in FIG- URE 5, and it can still return by gravityto its at rest position.

If the door 12 is unobstructed when it has reached its open position 12a(FIGURE 5), gravity will move the door 12 back toward its at restposition due to the inclination in the pivot axis 50 of the door hinges10 and 11 and the cooperating, inclined upper surface of the supportplate 63. This movement is largely pendulous in nature and is notintended to be a camming action. Camming occurs only after the rollersreach the groove 73 and start to move downwardly thereinto, wherebyclosing movement of the door tends to be accelerated slightly. However,when the rollers pass their at rest positions in the groove 73 continuedmovement of the door requires a raising thereof which immediatelyretards such movement. The resultant oscillation of the door 12 isquickly stopped with Applicants invention, unless the groove 73 isrelatively shallow.

Because the rollers 46 and 47 (FIGURES 4 and 5) are disposed on oppositesides of the pivot pin 42, extremely accurate positioning of the at restposition of the door 12 can be achieved. That is, with said rollers inthe groove 73, the bolts 64 and 65 are loosened so that the supportplate 63 can be adjusted with respect to the flanges 58 and 59. Whenadjustment of the door 12 is exactly as desired, the bolts 64 and 65 aretightened. The protection panels 19 and 20 tend to shift the center ofgravity of the door 12 toward the meeting edge 97 thereof, whichimproves the closing operation of the door, particularly on lightweightdoors.

The door 12, and in a similar manner the door 16, can be quickly andeasily removed for inspection and/or repair merely by removing the bolts64 and 65 and thereafter sliding the support plate 63 sidewardly anddownwardly through the opening 104 in the web 62 of the head jamb 24.Thereafter, the door 12 may be tilted and then raised so that the guidemember 79 is moved away from and off the pivot pin 83. Alternatively,and where expedience dictates, the door 12 can be removed from itsopening 14 by loosening the screws 38 which secure the mounting plate 37to said door 12 after which the door is raised until the guide member 79is released from engagement with the pivot member 78. Obviously, thedoor 12 can be quickly returned to its operating position by reversingthe foregoing steps.

Modified construction The modified hinge construction disclosed inFIGURES 9 and lO includes an upper hinge 111D, which is connected to theupper end of the door 111, and a lower hinge 112 which is connected tothe lower end of the door 111. The upper hinge 110 includes asubstantially vertical hinge pin 113 which is secured at its upper endto the upper pin plate 114, The lower hinge 112 includes a lower hingepin 116 which is secured to the lower pin plate 117. The upper and lowerpin plates 114 and 117 are integral with and extended sidewardly in thesame direction from the opposite ends of the jamb plate 118, which issecured by means such as the bolts 119 to the web 122 of thechannelshaped side jarnb 123. The pin plates 114 and 117 are held snuglyagainst the head jamb 124 and 126, respectively, which combine with theside jamb 123 to denne a door opening 127 in the wall 123.

The upper hinge 110 includes a support member 131 having a supportbracket 132 and support plate 133 which in general may be similar to thesupport bracket 52 and support plate 63 (FIGURE 3), except that theirpositions are reversed and inverted. A mounting plate 134 is secured tothe support bracket 132 for the purpose of connecting the support member131 by means of the screws 136 to the door 111. The upper edge of thedoor 111 is provided with a notch 137 into which the support bracket 132is snugly received when said connection is accomplished.

Rollers 138 and 139, which may be similar to the rollers 46 and 47, arerotatably supported upon a shaft 140 which is in turn secured to theupper hinge pin 113 in substantially the same manner as the shaft 43 ismounted upon the pivot pin 42. The support plate 133 has a centralopening 142 for loose reception of the pin 113 therethrough. Said plate133 also has a downwardly facing groove 143 which extends through theopening 142 and is engaged by the rollers 138 and 139, as discussedabove with respect to the upper hinge 10, except that the correspondingelements are in the reverse positions. That is, when the door 111 isswung away from its at rest position of FIGURE 9, the support plate 133moves with the door and with respect to the hinge pin 113 so that thelower surface of the support plate 133 moves upwardly onto the rollers138 and 139, whereby the door 111 is raised slightly. A typical coverplate 144 (FIGURES 9 and is mounted upon the support bracket 132 andextends across the front surface of the parts disposed therein. Asimilar cover plate can be mounted upon the opposite side of the supportbracket 132.

The lower hinge 112 includes a guide member 146 having a mounting plate147 which is secured by the screws 148 to the lower portion of the door111.

The vertical .jamb plate 118 is somewhat further from the upper hingepin 113 than it is from the lower hinge pin 116 so that the hinge axis153 diverges upwardly with respect to the adjacent edge 154 of the door111. Thus, when the door 111 is moved in a substantially horizontaldirection either way from its at rest position of FIG- URE 9, gravityurges the return of the door toward its at rest position. The receptionof the rollers 138 and 139 into the groove 143 dampens the oscillationsof the door as it swings back with a pendulous motion toward its at restposition and positively locates such at rest position.

By a minor obvious modification of the support member 131, the supportbracket 132 thereof can be fabricated like the support bracket 52(FIGURE 3) so that the support plate 133 is held in a positionsubstantially perpendicular to the hinge axis 153 (FIGURE 9). Under suchcircumstances, particularly where a relatively light door is involved,it might be advantageous to tilt the hinge pins 113 and 116 so that theyare coaxial with the hinge axis 153, as in the case of the hingeconstruction disclosed in FIGURE 3. It will be seen that the hingeconstruction in FIGURE 9 can be mounted to support an existing door inan existing door jamb without any material modication in either partexcept for the notch in the upper edge of the door 111.

The upper hinge (FIGURE 9) and the upper hinge 10 (FIGURE 3) require nolubrication due to the material used in the rollers 138, 139 and 46, 47,respectively. Lubrication of the lower hinges 112 and 11, should theneed become apparent, can be eliminated by providing a nylon bearing inthe guide member 146 around the hinge pin 116.

The alternate hinge construction, which is disclosed in FIGURES 12 and13 is adapted to support partition doors outside of the door opening sothat the entire opening can be unobstructed. This construction includesan upper hinge (FIGURES 13, 14 and 16), which is connected to the upperend of the door 161, and a lower hinge 162 (FIGURES l2 and 17), which isconnected to the lower end of said door 161. Broadly speaking, the upperand lower hinges 160 and 162 are similar in construction and operationto the upper and lower hinges 110 and 112, respectively, which are shownin FIGURE 9.

More specifically, the upper hinge 160 (FIGURES 12 and 16) includes anL-shaped, upper pin bracket 164 which supports a downwardly extendinghinge pin 163 and which is mounted upon the surface of the wall 165 nearone end of the upper jamb 166 by screws 167. The upper jamb 166 (FIGUREl1), side jambs 168 and 168e and threshold 169 combine to define a dooropening 172 adjacent to which the door 161 is swingably supported in anat rest position by the hinges 160 and 162 preferably for movementthrough an angle of at least 90 in either direction away from said atrest position. The upper hinge 16) also includes a U-shaped supportbracket 173 which may be substantially identical to the support bracket132 shown in FIGURE 10. A pair of L-shaped brackets 175 and 176 (FIGURES12 and 16) are rigidly secured, as by welding, to the lower surface ofthe web 177 of the U-shaped support bracket 173 so that the spaced,parallel anges 178 and 179 of said brackets 175 and 176 extenddownwardly from said web.

The door 161 (FIGURE 12), in this particular embodiment, includes asubstantially planar, main panel 182 and a sidewardly extending end wall183. As shown in FIGURES 12 and 13, the wall 183 is comprised of a pairof L-shaped, elongated angle members 184 and 185 whose anges 187 and 188are tightly held against the inner and outer surfaces, respectively, ofthe main panel 182 adjacent one edge thereof. The anges 191 and 192 ofthe members 134 and 185 are interconnected by a web 193 integral withthe corresponding edges thereof. The anges 191 and 192 are preferablysubstantially perpendicular to the plane of the main panel 182 andproject therefrom a distance preferably somewhat greater than the widthof the U-shaped bracket 173.

The upper ends of the flanges 191 and 192 are snugly disposed betweenand against the inner opposing surfaces of the anges 17S and 179 on thebrackets 175 and 176, to which they are secured, as by means of screws194.

The upper hinge 160 also includes an elongated support plate 196 whichmay be in general similar to the support plate 133 (FIGURE 10). Theopposite ends of the support plate 196 are preferably disposed beneaththe inwardly extending flanges 197 and 198 on the U-shaped supportbracket 173 where they are held by any suitable means, such as screws199, which are received through the openings 201 and 202 in the supportplate 196 and flange 198, respectively.

The lower hinge 162 (FIGURE 12) is comprised of an L-shaped guide plate203 which is secured, as by screws 204, to the flange 191 near the lowerend thereof and which has a pin opening 206 through its horizontal ange207. A substantially L-shaped pin supporting bracket 208, upon which theupstanding pin 209 is rigidly secured, may be mounted upon the adjacentsurface of said wall 165 so that said pin 209 is received through thepin opening 206 in the horizontal flange 207. As shown in FIGURES 14 and17, the axes 212 and 213 of the pins 163 and 209, respectively, arearranged so that the pivotal axis 214 (FIGURE 1l) of the door 161 tiltstoward the 9 meeting edge 216 of the main panel 182. Accordingly,pivotal movement of the door 161 away from its at rest position ofFIGURE 11 toward either the solid line or broken line position shown inFIGURE 15, will cause said door to swing slightly upwardly around thepivotal axis 214.

The support plate 196 (FIGURE 12) has a downwardly opening, transverseand substantially V-shaped groove 217 with a central opening 218 thereinthrough which the pin 163 extends. A pair of rollers 221 and 222 arerotatably supported upon an axle 223 which extends through and issupported upon the upper hinge pin 163 in substantially the same mannerand for substantially the same purpose as discussed above with respectto the rollers 46 and 47 (FIGURE 4).

During the initial pivotal movement of the door 161 away from its atrest position in either direction, the relative movement of the rollers221 and 222 out of the groove 217 will effect a camming action wherebythe door 161 is lifted a distance about equal to the depth of thegroove.

Gasket strips 224 and 225 (FIGURE 12) may be mounted upon the meetingedge 216 and bottom edge 227, respectively, of the main panel 182,particularly where the door is intended for use between rooms havingsubstantial differential temperatures. Likewise, a gasket strip 228 maybe mounted upon the outer surface of the end wall 183, for example, sothat it projects inwardly therefrom for engagement with a gasket strip229 (FIG- URE 13) which is mounted upon the adjacent surface of the wall165 when the door 161 is in its at rest position.

Another door 230 (FIGURE 11), which is preferably a mirror image of thedoor 161, may be mounted within the door opening 172 for cooperationwith the door 161 in a manner similar to that discussed above withrespect to the doors 12 and 16 (FIGURE l). The door 236 is supported byan upper hinge 232, which may be identical with the upper hinge 160, anda hinge 233, which may be a mirror image of the lower hinge 162. Thesehinges may be assembled in a manner substantially as set forth abovewith respect to the upper hinge 160 and lower hinge 162. Practically allof the parts of the hinges 160 and 1962, except for the pin bracket 208,can be made interchangeable between a lefthand door and a righthanddoor, so that they can be used to produce a door 231.

A substantially fiat canopy 234 may be mounted upon the horizontalflanges of the two L-shaped support brackets 173 and 236 of the upperhinges 160 and 232, respectively, as appearing in FIGURE 11. Thus, thecanopy completes the closure structure including the doors 161 and 231.

The general operation of the doors 161 and 231 may be substantially asset forth above with respect to the operation of the doors 12 and 16,for example. That is, if a force is applied to the door 161, forexample, when it is in the at rest position and in either direction awayfrom said at rest position, which force is slightly greater than enoughto overcome the slight, initial resistance produced by the cammingaction between the rollers 221 and 222 and the groove 217, said forcewill cause the door to swing into a substantially completely openposition with a relatively slow movement. The return movement of thedoor into the closed position will also be slow. The pivot axis 214 isarranged so that when the door 161 is moved so that it swings throughthe opening 172, the panel 182 will move against the side jamb 168 andthereby provide a minimum of obstruction to the opening. However, whenthe door 161 is swung in the opposite direction, or away from the dooropening 172, it can assume an open position, as shown in solid lines inFIGURE 15, wherein the opening 172 is completely unobstructed by saiddoor.

As shown in FIGURE 18, a hinge 260 which somewhat resembles the hinge11() (FIGURE 9) may be mounted upon the lower portion of a d'oor 261 toeffect substantially the same purposes achieved by mounting said hingeat the top of the door 111. More specically, the hinge 260 includes asupport bracket 262 which is substantially rectangular in shape and isreceived into a notch 263 in the lower corner of the door 261 adjacentthe side jamb 264. Said bracket 262 includes a pair of substantiallyparallel flanges 266 and 267 which are spaced from but extend towardeach other, preferably substantially adjacent the lower edge of the door261. A support plate 268, which may be substantially identical with thesupport plate 63 (FIGURE 3), has its opposite ends disposed beneath andheld against the flanges 266 and 267 by means such as the bolts and nuts269.

Said support plate 268 (FIGURE 18) has a downwardly facing, transversegroove 272 into which the rollers, which are mounted on opposite sidesof the pivot pin 273, are receivable. One of these rollers is shown at274 in FIGURE 18. Said pivot pin 273 extends through an appropriateopening through the groove 272 in substantially the same manner asdiscussed above with respect to the hinge 110 (FIGURE 9). However, saidpivot pin 273 is, in this particular embodiment, supported at its lowerend upon the horizontal flange 276 of the L-shaped bracket 277, theother flange of which is secured to side jamb 264 by screws 278.

The operation of hinge 260 is, in general, similar to the operation ofthe hinge 110. Moreover, said hinge 260 can be made so that the supportplate 268 is sloped downwardly away from the side jamb 264 to betteraccommodate same to a hinge axis which diverges upwardly with respect tothe sid'e jamb 264, in a manner previously discussed in detail.

It will be recognized by reference to the several modications of thehinge constructions disclosed in this application and in saidapplication Serial No. 256,848, that the desired results can be affectedwith hinge constructions which differ from the specific upper and lowerhinge assemblies described herein.

Accordingly, although particular preferred embodiments of the inventionhave been disclosed for illustrative purposes, it will be understoodthat variations or modifications of such disclosure, which come withinthe scope of the appended claims, are fully contemplated.

The embodiments of the invention in which an eX- clusive property orprivilege is claimed are dened as follows:

1. A hinge structure for supporting a door adjacent an opening in a wallstructure for movement around a hinge axis substantially parallel withthe plane of said door, said axis being at a small acute angle to thevertical centerline of the door, comprising:

a support mechanism connected between adjacent edge portions of saiddoor and said wall structure adjacent said opening, said supportmechanism comprising pin means substantially parallel and substantiallyconcentric with said axis, said axis being offset sidewardly from saiddoor, a pair of support elements mounted upon substantially oppositesides of said pin means, and a support plate substantially perpendicularto said pin means, said plate having a pin opening through which saidpin means extends and substantially V-shaped recess means into whichsaid support elements are substantially simultaneously receivable onsubstantially opposite sides of said pin opening, whereby said door issubstantially supported by said support mechanism for pivotal movementaround said axis, said door being urged by gravity into a positionwherein it obstructs said opening and both support elements are disposedin said recess means and thereby oppose pivotal movement of said door;and

guide means connected between other adjacent edge portions of said doorand said wall structure adjacent said opening and spaced substantiallyfrom said support mechanism, said guide means being located along saidaxis to guide the pivotal movement of said other adjacent portion ofsaid door, whereby said l l door can be pivoted from said rst-mentionedposition into :a second position wherein said opening is unobstructed bysaid door.

2. A hinge structure according to claim 1 wherein the lengthwise axis ofsaid pin means is parallel with the vertical centerline of the door and,accordingly, at a small acute angle to said hinge axis; and

wherein said support plate is perpendicular to said lengthwise axis ofsaid pin means and, accordingly, at a large acute angle to said hingeaxis.

3. A hinge structure according to claim 1 wherein said pin means issecured to said wall structure and the lengthwise axis of said pin meansis parallel with the vertical centerline of the door and, accordingly,is at a small acute angle to said hinge axis; and

wherein said support plate is secured to said door and is perpendicularto said pin means, said recess means opening downwardly.

4. A hinge structure according to claim 1 wherein said guide meansincludes a guide pin secured to said wall structure near the lower endof said door and extending upwardly parallel with the verticalcenterline of the door, and a guide member on said door dening anopening into which said guide pin is loosely and slideably received.

5. A hinge structure according to claim 1 wherein said guide means islocated near the top of said door and the support mechanism is locatednear the bottom of said door, said pin means being mounted upon saidwall structure and said support plate being mounted upon said door sothat the lengthwise axis of said pin means is parallel with the verticalcenterline of the door, perpendicular to said support plate and at asmall acute angle to the hinge axis, said recess means openingdownwardly.

6. A hinge structure according to claim 1 wherein said pin means ismounted upon said wall structure, said support plate is mounted uponsaid door and said recess means opens downwardly; and

including canopy means mounted upon said wall structure and covering asubstantial portion of said support mechanism.

7. A hinge structure according to claim 1 wherein said support elementscomprise a pair of rollers and shaft means extending from opposite sidesof said pin means and supporting said rollers for rotation aroundsubstantially horizontal axes substantially perpendicular to said planeof said door when said door is in said first-mentioned position.

8. The structure of claim 1 wherein said pin means and part of saidguide means are rigidly secured to said door near one upright edgethereof;

wherein said support plate and another part of said guide means aresecured to said wall structure; and wherein said recess means opensupwardly.

9. The structure of claim 1 wherein said pin means is rigidly secured tosaid wall structure;

wherein said support plate and part of said guide means are rigidlysecured to said door; and

wherein said recess means opens downwardly.

10. A hinge structure for supporting a door upon a wall structureadjacent to and on one side of an opening therein for movement around ahinge axis substantially parallel with said door, said axis being nearone upright edge of said door and diverging upwardly at a relativelysmall, acute angle to a vertical line adjacent said edge of said door,comprising:

pivot pin means rigidly secured to said wall structure near the upperedge of said opening and near a substantially vertical edge of saidopening, said pivot pin means extending downwardly substantiallyvertically;

a pair of similar rollers and means supporting same upon substantiallyopposite sides of the pivot pin means for rotation around substantiallyhorizontal axes substantially perpendicular to said wall structure;

a mounting plate secured to the door adjacent an upper edge portionthereof and near said upright edge thereof, said mounting plate beingsubstantially perpendicular to said pivot pin means and having a centralopening through which said pivot pin means is loosely received andhaving a downwardly opening, substantially V-shaped groove extendingacross said opening and substantially perpendicularly to the plane ofsaid door, said rollers being disposed within said groove when the dooris in a position substantially parallel with said wall structure andspaced laterally therefrom; and

lower pivot means connected between the lower edge portion of said doorand said wall structure to guide the movement of said door around saidhinge axis, the hinge axis extending through said pivot pin means andsaid pivot means, whereby said door is pivotally supported forsubstantially horizontal movement in both directions away from saidposition, wherein said door is urged by gravity.

11. A hinge structure according to claim 10 wherein the axes of saidpivot pin means and said lower pivot means are parallel and spacedtransversely from each other so that they are both at a small acuteangle to said hinge axis, whereby movement of said door away from saidposition within said plane causes said door to be supported primarily byengagement of one of said rollers with said support plate.

12. A hinge structure according to claim 10, wherein said door isL-shaped transversely of said upright edge thereof to provide arelatively large closure panel which is disposed within said positionwhen said rollers are within said groove, and a relatively short edgepanel substantially perpendicular to said closure panel adjacent saidupright edge, said mounting plate being secured to the upper end of saidedge panel, and said lower pivot means being connected to the lower endof said edge panel, said edge panel being disposed between said closurepanel and said wall structure when said door is in said position.

13. A hinge structure for supporting a door having panel means adjacentan opening in a wall structure for movement around a hinge axissubstantially parallel with the plane of said door, said axis being at asmall acute angle to the vertical centerline of the door, comprising:

a support mechanism connected between adjacent edge portions of saiddoor and said wall structure adjacent said opening, said supportmechanism comprising piu means substantially parallel and substantiallyconcentric with said axis, said axis being offset sidewardly from saidpanel means, support means mounted upon said pin means, and a supportplate substantially perpendicular to said pin means, said plate having apin opening through which said pin means extends and substantiallyV-shaped recess means into which said support means is receivable nearsaid pin opening, whereby said door is substantially supported by saidsupport mechanism for pivotal movement around said axis, said door beingurged by gravity into a position wherein it obstructs said opening andsaid support means is disposed in said recess means and thereby opposespivotal movement of said door; and

guide means connected between other adjacent edge portions of said doorand said wall structure adjacent said opening and spaced substantiallyfrom said support mechanism, said guide means being located along saidaxis to guide the pivotal movement of said other adjacent portion ofsaid door, whereby said door can be pivoted from said first-mentionedposition into a second position wherein said opening is unobstructed bysaid door.

14. A hinge structure according to claim 13, wherein the lengthwise axisof said pin means is upright, parallel with the vertical centerline ofthe door and at a small acute angle to said hinge axis; and

wherein said support plate is perpendicular to said 13 14 lengthwiseaxis of said pin means and at a large acute 2,351,800 6/ 1944 Baum etal. 16-154 angle to said hinge axis.

FOREIGN PATENTS References Cited by the Examinen 19,165 9 /1399 GreatBritain UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 1 563 154 11/1925 B 1 20 16 EDWARD C.ALLEN, Primary Examiner.

rager eta .3 1,787,468 1/1931 Biftorf et a1. 16-103 JOSEPH D' SEERSExamme' 2,220,335 11/1940 Hubbs 16--154 X D. GRIFFIN, AssistantExaminer.

13. A HINGE STRUCTURE FOR SUPPORTING A DOOR HAVING PANEL MEANS ADJACENTAN OPENING IN A WALL STRUCTURE FOR MOVEMENT AROUND A HINGE AXISSUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL WITH THE PLANE OF SAID DOOR, SAID AXIS BEING AT ASMALL ACUTE ANGLE TO THE VERTICAL CENTERLINE OF THE DOOR, COMPRISING ASUPPORT MECHANISM CONNECTED BETWEEN ADJACENT EDGE PORTIONS OF SAID DOORAND SAID WALL STRUCTURE ADJACENT SAID OPENING, SAID SUPPORT MECHANISMCOMPRISING PIN MEANS SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL AND SUBSTANTIALLY CONCENTRICWITH SAID AXIS, SAID AXIS BEING OFFSET SIDEWARDLY FROM SAID PANEL MEANS,SUPPORT MEANS MOUNTED UPON SAID PIN MEANS, AND A SUPPORT PLATESUBSTANTIALLY PERPENDICULAR TO SAID PIN MEANS, SAID PLATE HAVING A PINOPENING THROUGH WHICH SAID PIN MEANS EXTENDS SAID SUBSTANTIALLY V-SHAPEDRECESS MEANS INTO WHICH SAID SUPPORT MEANS IS RECEIVABLE NEAR SAID PINOPENING,